In recent years, online computer gaming has become more popular and prevalent. The Internet has provided individual computer users with venues in which to play computer games with multiple friends or acquaintances located in remote locations. But despite the growth in players, prior art game operators and players face a number of challenges. Currently, players have difficulty monitoring and identifying when friends and acquaintances are playing games that they may want to join. Additionally, even if a player becomes aware that a friend or associate is playing a game, it is difficult for that player to join the game even if they are running supplementary programs.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a system and method for multiplayer online gaming that monitors when and where certain individuals are playing computer games online, notifies a user of the individuals currently playing online games, and allows the user to easily join certain games in progress.